We are considering the fiscal year 2021 funding for the Veterans Affairs and related agencies bill. Friends,d by my dear judge carter, the Ranking Member, here with us by teleconference today. And i want to welcome the committee chair, Ranking Member granger and all the subcommittee members. Before i moved to my statement i want to talk about how this will work. Has been configured to make the sixfoot social distancing. Some members are using teleconferencing to participate remotely. For those on videoconference, when to start speaking there will be a slight delay before you are displayed on the main screen. Speaking into the microphone activates the camera. Do not stop your remarks if you do not immediately see the screen switch. If it does not change after several seconds please make sure , you are not muted. To minimize background noise and ensure the correct speaker is being displayed, we ask that members remain on mute. For members using the video option, you will notice a clock on the bottom of your screen that will show how much time is remaining. At one minute, the clock will turn yellow. At 30 seconds, i will tap the gavel that their time has expired. Then the clock will turn red and i will move to recognize other members. In terms of speaking order, we usual order, starting with the chair and then followed by the full committee and any other members. We have sent up an email address. You may send the documents to be inserted into the record. Amendments, motions and other unanimous consent requests and so on. That email address is house submissionsns. mail. House. Gov. If you did not get it down it has been provided to your staff. I would remind all members they must verbally request unanimous consent out loud, separately from sending the documents to the email address. Thank you for your understanding as we navigate this new technology. I want to move to my opening statement. The bill before us today demon states to our Service Members and veterans we can be proud of the work that the each of you and our colleagues have provided. Each of you have received a card this evening with the top priorities. While our hearing schedule ended early, we still have had several hearings and face neglect. The subcommittee held a hearing to focus on the substandard conditions found in substandard housing and and the impact of the exposures to Service Members. On the v. A. Side, we also heldal a hearing on the modernization in order to have greater transparency. We also held a hearing with this terry glenn dr. Stone, on the response to the covid19 crisis. We did that virtually. Mandatedd that we have investments and our program to improve readiness and provide benefits and military care that our veterans have earned. Fy 2020 one, the Committee Recommendation that provides 115. 5 million, which includes 350 Million Dollars for overseas operations, and a 12. 3 billion in emergency funding to address the rising cost of medical care. This is a 5. 1 billion increase above the fy 2020 funding levels and 2. 3 billion above the fy 2021 budget request. It includes money for military construction, rejecting the proposed cut of 2. 3 billion below the current level for critical needs on military installations. I will remind the members, which i know you do not need reminding on this subcommittee command that 30 of the militarys infrastructure worldwide is in fair or poor condition. The bill also includes 439 billion for the conservation for the Conservation Investment program, which is 397 Million Dollars above the request. 2. 4 billion is for unfunded priorities at that were approved. These projects can be executed during fy 2021. The total also provides 1. 3 billion for Family Housing construction, and clean 135 million for Housing Support costs. And an additional 200 million will be provided for cleanup. The bill also includes a new provision to prohibit military Construction Projects on installations named for confederate officers my who waged an armed rebellion against the u. S. Can mentally process has been initiated to replace the names of those. A total of 242 billion, including mandatory spending my provided for the fy 2021 programs, of which 108 billion is discretionary funding. This is an increase of 12. 3 billion more than the fy 20 inactive level. We have finally achieved consensus with the senate that the cost of Veterans Health care is growing exponentially and it did not remain within the budget caps. For that reason the 12. 5 billion and the total is emergency funding to adequately find v. A. Health care. This will help us prevent falling off the fiscal cliff we have talked about for a number of years. It includes 90 million for medical care will fully funding the budget request and providing for a 7. 2 million patients to be treated in fy 21. Within that total funding includes over 600 million for gender specific care for women, 1. 9 billion for homelessness programs, 504 Million Dollars for opioid abuse treatment, 84 million for all health initiatives, 300 million for rural health initiatives, and a 10. 3 million for Mental Health care services, including 313 Million Dollars for suicide outreach. Other areas of interest include robust oversight of the implementation, boosting investment in medical and Prosthetic Research my progress in the construction of facilities, ensuring access for veterans in rural areas, including telehealth, and improving treatment of conditions like rare cancers and pressure ulcers. Finally, the bill provides an increase of 8 over the budget request to maintain Service Levels and invest in need of maintenance. Foramerican battle monuments commission, the court of appeals for veterans claims in Arlington National cemetery and the Armed Forces Retirement home. Nobody will be surprised that this bill does not fund a border wall, nor allow the president to content and divert military Construction Funding from previously approved National Security projects. As i have said, military construction dollars should be used for the purpose of they are provided, which is to support the department of defenses mission for Service Members and their families. With that i want to say thank you to our subcommittee members for their engagement in drafting the legislation, it is a joy to work with you. I know that we hear colleagues complement one another on their subcommittees and how well they get along. I think that this is a special case with this subcommittee and it really makes me proud to have you as colleagues. And i want to thank my partner, judge carter, who has worked tirelessly and is a passionate advocate for his constituents made for people who serve in the armed forces, but he is an absolute gentleman and has become a dear friend. And it is wonderful to be able to work sidebyside with you serving on this subcommittee every day. I also want to thank the chairwoman and chairman further work. This will help Service Members and veterans and i urge all my colleagues to join me in advancing this board. I want to express my appreciation to members of the subcommittee who come after this year, will no longer be serving with us in congress. Congresswoman roby coming have been a tireless advocate to your local v. A. And you have set a high bar for every other member. The passion that you bring to your job every single day, the how genuine you are. How compassionate, honest and real you are. That can honestly tell you one of the best experiences of all my years in congress was being able to call you one of my dear friends. I do not there that term around lightly. So, i really wish you all the best. Thank you. Congressman, you have been steadfast in your support and advocacy for joint base andrews tony a, your commitment to the military, specifically the air force, has been critical. Amongst of the positive contributions you have made, you have been such a breath of fresh air and candor. And that is sorely lacking in our institutions, so thank you so much and we wish you the best. I will notman lowy, bother with what is written here, because i will speak from my heart. Ofet to give no other member all of the members in this institution that has mentor to hardre i will have a time not getting choked up talking about you, but i will dearly miss you and the example that you set for so many women and if so many public servants, your integrity, compassion, your industry. I will forever remember your quote about being an incredibly kind and wonderful person who wants who somebody wants a set about you, she has an ice pick behind her velvet glove. That says a lot about you. And the stature that you have gained here, obtaining the highest position on this committee. Because nobody i know is more wellrespected and who i have learned more from. Thank you. Of course, i want to thank the staff that have worked hard to prepare this bill. Thank you to betsy, the clerk, and to those on judge carters staff. And i want to thank the subcommittee staff, as well as my team tomorrow clerk, sarah myng, nicole cohen and hometown girl from broward county, florida, aisha. And laura on my personal staff. I have to fly the flag, sorry. Judge carter, i want to turn to you for your comments. Thank, madame chairman. I am honored i think you very much, madame chairman. I am honored to be with you and it has been a pleasure to work with you on this subcommittee. If all of congress was as congenial as our subcommittee has been, i think we would be in good shape. I want to thank you for working with me and members of my party. And i want to tell you that i appreciate you bringing this bill before the subcommittee. This is a good bill, except for a few exceptions. And i will get to those in a minute. I want to express my appreciation for covering all the requests of the bill and report, many of which were made on a bipartisan basis. And you and the subcommittee staff worked to address each of the members concerns. Overall, i strongly support the funding provided for military Construction Projects and am pleased that includes funding for most every project on those theices priorities list and cause the complete list. That is to be commended. I want to thank you for the notes. Money fornote that the additional privatization of military housing is well done. And this increase also deals with the conservation and cleanup of contaminated areas. Horror stories a little bit about that this year. In those of us how have our area, we share those concerns. For thet the funding veterans programs and i want to highlight the increases for Mental Health, homelessness and Construction Projects. Failed tostration request for the smaller agencies, so thank you for providing reasonable funding for all the national cemeteries, the Armed Forces Retirement homes, and others. As you know, madam chair, section 130, that prohibits the funding for projects the installations at that bear the names of confederate soldiers. Provision unfairly punishes men and women in uniform. This provision will only hurt soldiers that are assigned to the impacted through no fault of their own. It is not acceptable to me that this provision would deny new for soldiers at that worked in the texas heat to keep our tanks and Armored Vehicles ready. Just yesterday in texas it was 100 degrees. To about is bumping up 100 degrees. Tank in thebrams sum because the motor is too small to working. Work in. If the town in the sun all day long. You could literally cook breakfast on it. It would cause a Second Degree burns to those who touch it with a tender parts of their body, like their arms. It is really a shame that we have people working in such a bad situation, and we are doing something to fix that by giving , fullsized modern pools. We will be utilizing these for the good of our soldiers. We should not be making our soldiers lives more difficult. That is an issue for an issue we have no control. The subcommittee has no jurisdiction the naming of military installations. The Appropriations Committee should lead this to. Yes, we sometimes use the power of the purse to change in policy. But this provision goes beyond that. Of fort40, the Soldiers Hill in my district, which bears the name of confederate general john bell hood, who was the commander of the texas brigade, that is now legendary. And in dedication to every major conflict involving the United States in the last eight years. The soldiers in my district have violently serve and do not deserve to be punishedd because of the name on the front gate. Raise. Se are concerns i this bill provides emergency funding and i understand the budget realities we face this year, especially regarding Veterans Health care and i do not think we should set aside the bipartisan budget agreement as part of the fiscal year 2021 appropriations process. We are going to have to pay for this and pay the piper one of these days. To recognize congresswoman roby. I will tell you that no lady has and hase accepting defended issues that affect her state. One for tickler problem she has raised and one particular problem she has raised everyday. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. And we have many people looking at her special projects because of her diligence. She is a great member of congress. She will be missed. My good buddy will heard, one of the smartest guys who has worked with both sides of the aisle, a hardworking smart man, he is going to lose talent we are going to lose a lot of talent by losing will as a member of congress. We will miss will, and i will personally miss him because i consider him one of the greatest assets we have in our texas delegation. I am sure whatever he does, as he goes out from congress, it will be something good for our nation and good for every member of the public in our nation. Because will is a true patriot. Finally, i have to say goodbye to one of the sweetest ladies i know. I got to know her and i watched ights oft for the r [indiscernible] andi fell in love with her she has been a good friend of mine. I hope she takes good care of her health when she retires. I have been encouraging her to do that. She has been a treasure for our country. And i consider her a good friend and i have enjoyed her company, even when she is beating up on us she does it with grace. And we are going to miss you. Thank you for all you have done for our country. Thank you for being my friend. To the staff, i want to thank everybody that the chairwoman thanked. Thank you for your hard work. And my staff keeps me informed, keeps me out of trouble, and Everybody Knows that is the real job, keeping me out of trouble. I am looking forward to us moving into the appropriations process. And i want to thank the chair for this bill and the subcommittee staff for what they have done with this bill. Looking forward to the conclusion of the process and i think we will have a good bill for the american people. I yield back. Ms. Wasserman schultz thank you for your very thorough and comprehensive statement, and your dedication to your constituents and to the men and women who serve in our armed forces. I want to turn and recognize the chairwoman lowey. I want to lowey thank chairwoman wasserman schultz, first of all, for your very generous, kind words. I feel like i am giving a speech every time. I want to say, because you know we have shared our experiences, that this has been an extraordinary opportunity for me to wake up every day and do good things. So, i appreciate your generous remarks. And i still have a little more time left to do more work, but i really do want to thank you. I also want to thank Ranking Member carter. Where did Ranking Member carter go . Over there. I want to thank you, too, for your work on this bill. I thank the subcommittee staff for their efforts to navigate member requests and formulate the product that we have before us, given the challenges of the past few months. This subcommittee conducted numerous hearings, both in person and virtually, to ensure that the bill addresses the most critical and compelling issues that face our Service Members and veterans. The fiscal year 2021 military construction and Veterans Affairs bill will invest 115. 5 billion to support active duty veterans and their families and , including 90 billion for forcal care, 10. 3 billion life saving mental programs and Million Dollars for medical and Prosthetic Research, 661 million for Women Veterans dedicated care, 1. 9 billion for homelessness assistance programs, and 1. 35 billion to improve military Family Housing. The bill also includes important provisions to make fertility ,enefits for veterans permanent restricts funding for Construction Projects located on installations named after confederate officers, and prohibits the misappropriation of funds to the president s wasteful border wall. The vital needs of our Service Members should no base ou should not be sacrificed for political gains. And i do hope, madam chair, although having spent billions on the process of coordinating medical care between veterans and our military, i do hope that in this next session you will be able to complete the job. Its an issue that has been long and it ism so inappropriate and at such a waste, but the cause is so important. And i have confidence that you will get this done. So, i thank the me